


What If

by VoluntaryBubblehead



Category: Uglies Series - Scott Westerfeld
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 11:05:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13165620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoluntaryBubblehead/pseuds/VoluntaryBubblehead
Summary: What if it hadn't gone the way it did? What if Tally had contacted the specials early on, before she knew the secret, before they had a chance to escape? What if she and Shay and David had turned pretty together?





	What If

**Author's Note:**

> This idea had been floating around in my mind since I'd read the Uglies. Let me know if you guys have any additional thoughts on how characters would react or feel. I'm curious to hear :)

She stood there in the library, body motionless as her mind numbed with the sudden realization that she had to make a choice. It shouldn’t be this hard, it shouldn’t take this long, but now that she was here in the Smoke, around these people who had made their lives here, it was as though things had changed. This place was more real than she had given it credit for, and it was obvious they were a part of something bigger than even her city thought. How many uglies had she seen just on the walk over, how many kids had run from these unknown cities to live out here in the wild? Why did so many of them think it was worth it?

Although the size and pure scale of this place astounded and amazed her, she had yet to see the point. It was dirty and disgusting. Everything looked like back breaking work and they would all remain ugly for life. Why do this to yourselves? What did these tricky little uglies have to prove? Was that all this was? Someone was in charge, some prevailing ugly that decided city life was too much, and they roped others into their plan. Others like Shay.

Tally’s mind clouded suddenly at the thought of Shay. If it wasn’t for all this, Shay would’ve stayed home with Tally. They would’ve turned pretty right on schedule. Instead of standing here in this old building wearing dirty clothes, they’d be in a party tower draped in finery and living life like they should be. Her thoughts kept returning to the same idea: this was all some Ugly trick. Something to prove, something to make them feel special, to make them feel like they make all the rules. Well, sorry Shay, but there’s more to life than living like a rusty. Sometimes you have to grow up, and be pretty.

She opened the locket, turning it to her eye. The red light flashed again, momentarily blinding her, but as she blinked it away, she knew she’d done the right thing. Dr. Cable hadn’t been lying when she said they’d be there within a few hours. The trip that had taken her days, they covered before sun even fell. No one knew what was happening at first. Mass panic and chaos enveloped the uglies as the specials emerged from their cars and subdued them all. They even handcuffed Tally, though she found it was more for efficiency than to save face. She could see Shay in the other rabbit pen, fighting and screaming for them all to fight back. Her eyes locked with Tally’s, and Tally could see the confusion, the fear, and the sense of betrayal. 

Tally kept her face as neutral as she could. She worried what Shay would tell her later, if she would be angry, but Tally still knew she’d done the right thing. She’d had to save Shay from herself, save her from this horrible world, and bring her back to real life. Tally relaxed into her bindings, watching the uglies fill the pens. Only a few more hours, she thought, working hard to keep the smile from her lips, then we’ll all be pretty.

They flew back in the special hover cars, and Tally was smooshed between a few uglies she didn’t recognize. She wondered how much older they were, how long they’d been out there. She didn’t see Shay, or that David kid either. They must’ve been in the other cars. She felt slightly relived at this, still not ready to face Shay. Everyone looked so upset, some were crying, their ugly faces red and blotchy. She wanted to reach out to them, to tell them it would all be better soon. In a few hours, they’d be beautiful. No more blotchy faces, no more crying. She’d never heard of pretties crying, they had no reason to. 

When they landed, it was a jumble of bodies and angry special faces. They kept them cuffed, and ushered them all through Special Circumstance. They were all too scared to say a word, even the older ones. Her eyes found Shay in the crowd, next to David. It was jarring yet satisfying to see all his confidence gone. He was one in the crowd again, a terrified ugly like the rest of them. They all got their own tiny rooms, little more than a bed, toilet, and sink in each one. Holding cells till they turned them pretty. 

She wondered about the older uglies, they ones who’d been gone a while, the one’s over twenty. What would they do for them? For ones like Tally, Shay, and even the more recent runaways, their measurements were in the system, ready to go whenever. What about ones like David, who were never here? They’d measured her every week for two years before her birthday to get everything in order. She wondered what they’d do for the rest. 

She wasn’t given much time to ponder it though, for a special came to her room and ushered her down the hall. Dr. Cable was waiting in the surgery room, the smile looking much too fake on her cruel lips. “Excellent job, Tally. I’m proud of you.”

Tally doubted that, but nodded anyway. “I had to do it. They were killing animals and cutting down trees.”

Dr. Cable’s gaze darkened. “See why I had you go out there and find them for me? They were destroying the planet, bringing about the Rusty era again, and for what?”

Tally shook her head, unable to stop her eyes from roving the surgery room. In the center sat the object of her desires: the nano tank. Dr. Cable chuckled. “Okay, Tally, you deserve your reward. Time to 

be pretty.”

She did the right thing, she kept repeating to herself, she saved them all, and soon they’d be together again. Pretty and happy.

It wasn’t until the next day that she saw Shay again. She was sitting in her new room, Etcetera, looking down at the sprawling view of the city that sat around her. After four years of gazing across the river at the lights in the distance, now all she wanted was to bask in the glory that was her view now. Her eyes caught the reflection in the mirror and she gasped out loud. She wondered if she’d ever get used to the person who looked back at her, all big eyes and luscious lips, wavy hair and symmetrical features. No one would look at her and call her Squint, or see her much too frizzy hair. She was perfection.

Her room rose her from her thoughts, chiming slightly before asking in its lovey sing song voice that was nothing like her room back home, “Tally, Shay wants to visit you.”

Tally’s face broke into the widest smile, and she hurriedly got to her feet. “Of course!”

The door opened and it was as if nothing had changed. Shay rushed into the room, breath taking n such a way that Tally suddenly failed to remember how she was ever ugly. They grabbed hands and hugged tightly, words coming out in near gibberish with the speed of their excitement. “You look amazing!” Tally gasped out, and Shay beamed like a thousand suns.

“So do you! Gosh, I’m so glad to be here, you have no idea!”

Tally grinned. “Me too! How does this compare to the Smoke?”

Shay stuck out her tongue, grimacing. “It took all of one hot shower to let me know the Smoke could never be as good.”

Giggling, Tally’s voice caught in her throat when she finally noticed the man standing idly by the door. As Shay turned to see, he looked up, staring into Tally’s eyes. He was the most gorgeous pretty she’d ever seen, his bright eyes and easy-going smile making her heart swell. She knew he stood out, even among pretties, as if the committee had worked extra hard on him. Shay glanced slyly back at Tally  
before reaching and grabbing the man’s hand, pulling him into the room. “Tally, this is David.”

Tally couldn’t help as her jaw hit the floor. It was almost impossible to believe that the big nosed asymmetrical ugly could’ve become this. Shay grinned, throwing her arms around his shoulders. “Isn’t he a dream?”

“Shay…” He said, a gorgeous blush rising to his high cheeks. “You know I’m still getting used to this all.”

Shay waved a hand dismissively. “Well hurry up, you’re going to be the talk of all of New Pretty Town, I just know it.”

David looked as though he wasn’t sure how to feel about this, and Tally finally found her voice. “I agree with Shay. How do you like the city, David?”

He frowned slightly, a motion Tally found adorable on his pretty face. “It’s different. Louder and bigger than I’m used to. But…” He paused, almost looking pained for the slightest moment before the smile returned. “It’s amazing, and I feel so…so happy.”

“Good!” Shay exclaimed. “And tonight, we’re gonna party! Tally I want to meet Paris, and I have so many friends for you to meet! It’ll be bubbly!”

The party was immensely bubbly, leaving Tally breathless in her elaborate ball gown. She grabbed another champagne flute and escaped out into the park just beyond the building, craving the fresh air and muffled music for just a moment. She settled on a bench, taking a deep swig and almost dropping the glass when she heard a voice beside her ask, “May I sit?”

It was David, dashing as ever in his green tux. She nodded, finishing her drink and setting the flute on the ground. He smiled as he took a seat next to her, sighing and relaxing back as he stared up at the sky. “It’s so much to get used to.” He muttered.

“I understand completely.” Tally said, and it was true. Four years of thinking and dreaming about this day hadn’t changed the fact that it was such a brand-new experience. So many beautiful faces and all the alcohol she could drink. “It’s overwhelming for New Pretties.”

David looked over at her. “You did it, didn’t you?”  
Tally found his gaze, her head swimming before she saw that he wasn’t angry. He was curious, and she swooned when even curiosity was amplified on his features, like a littlie asking about the big world  
around them. She nodded. “I had to save Shay.”

David paused, as though he were having trouble finding his words. “I knew you did. What were the odds they showed up the same day you did?”

Tally couldn’t help it. “Are you mad?”

Another pause. “I thought I’d be. I thought I’d be furious, disgusted, horrified… But…” He clenched his hands, then stared down at his palms. “I’m not. It’s like everything I believed wasn’t as I thought. The things I was told about the city, about the pretty operation, it doesn’t feel true. I like looking this way, and seeing everyone around me look this way. I feel wonderful. All the food I could want, all the clothes I could ever need, and I don’t have to work for any of it. Like Shay said earlier, one hot shower and suddenly the Smoke can’t compete. All those years…” He took on a faraway look, like his mind was suddenly back to the wooden buildings and campfires. “They don’t matter. This is what matters, being right here, with you.”

He reached his hand out, and Tally took it shyly. His skin was smooth and warm, and his fingers wrapped around her own. They walked back to the party hand in hand, causing Shay to whoop loudly as she passed Tally another flute. She down it in one gulp watching David do the same. The music changed and they folded into the mass of pretty bodies.


End file.
